text: One unique property of dendrimers such as PAMAM is the high density of surface functional groups, which allow many alterations to be made to the surface of each dendrimer molecule. In putative PAMAM dendrimers, the surface is rife with primary amines, with higher generations expressing exponentially greater densities of amino groups. Although the potential to attach many things to each dendrimer is one of their greatest advantages, the presence of highly localized positive charges can be toxic to cells. Surface modification via attachment of acetyl and lauroyl groups help mask these positive charges, attenuating cytotoxicity and increasing permeability to cells. Thus, these types of modifications are especially beneficial for biological applications. Secondary and tertiary amino surface groups are also found to be less toxic than primary amino surface groups, suggesting it is charge shielding which has major bearing on cytotoxicity and not some secondary effect from a particular functional group. Furthermore, other studies point to a delicate balance in charge which must be achieved to obtain minimal cytotoxicity. Hydrophobic interactions can also cause cell lysis, and PAMAM dendrimers whose surfaces are saturated with nonpolar modifications such as lipids or polyethylene glycol (PEG) suffer from higher cytotoxicity than their partially substituted analogues. PAMAM dendrimers with nonpolar internal components have also been shown to induce hemolysis.